Oakley Inc

Oakley Inc. said its second-quarter profit fell 12% as demand for the company's sports-themed sunglasses declined. Net income fell to $16 million, or 23 cents a share, from $18.2 million, or 27 cents, a year earlier, the Foothill Ranch-based company said. Sales rose 5.7% to $152 million. Oakley shares fell 47 cents to $10.34 on the NYSE.

December 27, 2000 | LESLIE EARNEST, Leslie Earnest covers retail businesses for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7832 and at leslie.earnest@latimes.com

With its shoe and apparel business growing and retailers booking orders earlier, Oakley Inc. is opening a new warehouse in Ontario. The Foothill Ranch-based company said the new 118,000-square-foot shipping facility will help it deal with additional demand for apparel and new shoe styles. Oakley, which built its reputation on its sunglasses business, has expanded its product line in recent years, adding shoes, clothes, accessories and watches.

Oakley Inc. Chairman and President Jim Jannard plans to purchase up to an additional 3 million of the company's common stock from time to time in the open market, the Foothill Ranch designer of sunglasses and goggles said Monday. Jannard has purchased about 4 million shares since January 1997, bringing his ownership of Oakley stock to nearly 38.6 million shares, or 54.6% of those outstanding. Oakley's stock was off 25 cents Monday to $12.81 a share in New York Stock Exchange trading.

Oakley Inc.: The Foothill Ranch sunglass and athletic equipment maker said second-quarter profits jumped 27%, to a record $11.2 million, or 16 cents a share, from $8.8 million, or 13 cents a share, for the comparable 1997 quarter. Sales grew 27% to $70 million from $55.2 million. Net income for the first half increased 33% to $12.5 million, or 18 cents a share, from $9.4 million, or 13 cents a share, for the first six months of 1997. Sales were up 24% to $111 million from $89.6 million.

Two disgruntled Oakley Inc. shareholders alleged in civil lawsuits that the Irvine-based sunglasses manufacturer had fraudulently misled shareholders on an impending slowdown in sales and profit. The suits, filed in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, allege that Oakley failed to tell investors that sales through Sunglass Hut, Oakley's leading retail outlet, would slow late this year. Oakley executives were unavailable for comment.

Oakley Inc.'s chairman, Jim Jannard, plans to increase his majority ownership of the company by buying as many as 1 million shares, the sunglass maker said Tuesday. Jannard completed a previously announced purchase of another million shares, increasing his stake in the company to more than 50%, the company said. In December, the stock had a sharp drop when Oakley warned that Sunglass Hut International Inc.

Oakley Inc. cut its forecast for fourth-quarter sales and profit as customers bought fewer sunglasses. The company will take an expense for restructuring its European operations. Oakley expects fourth-quarter sales of about $100 million and break-even to 1-cent-per-share earnings after the expense, the company said. The Foothill Ranch-based company had forecast sales of $108 million to $110 million and earnings of about 10 cents. Oakley shares fell 20 cents to $12.

Oakley Inc. said it would merge its half a dozen sunglasses outlets into a single brand as it focuses on optics. Most of the Foothill Ranch company's 110 mall-based stores would be consolidated under its Sunglass Icon brand. The change affects Oakley's Occhiali da Sole, Optica Sporting Eyes, Sunglass Club and Sunglass Designs chains. The company said that two Optica stores would be managed by Optical Shop of Aspen, a fashion-eyewear maker bought by Oakley in March.